When the heart still yearns
by foureye Scarlet-knight
Summary: Natsu and Sting became best friends when they were little, but when an enemy kingdom strikes, Natsu suddenly disappears leaving the young prince broken. A few years later, A Circus suddenly comes to Sting's kingdom by the name of "Fairy Tail" where he meets a certain flame performer nicknamed "Salamander" and maybe even a rival in love. Sting/Natsu/Gray yaoi! Warning:OOCs


Chapter 1

" Dragon Scale and Sabertooth"

Long ago in a faraway place lies a kingdom called "Dragon Scale"

The kingdom of Dragon Scale is known for their relationship with the dragons. The people there are whom you call Dragon Slayers, for only they are the only ones who can understand the dragon's language and only they can either inherit or learn their powers.

Dragon Scale was also ruled by the great dragon king. He was a wise and powerful king, his people adored him for his kindness and everything in their kingdom prospered.

The king also had 2 Sons and 1 daughter. The first and oldest son was a 12 year old named Gajeel. A stubborn yet strong child he was, he wasn't really that social with the others, only spoken when he wanted to, and can quite be the hot head sometimes. Gajeel was also the apprentice of the head of the army and second in command of the royal council, lord Metalicana.

The second brother was an 8 year old with extraordinary rose pink hair named Natsu. Peculiar child he is has knack of always surprising everyone and has a strong loyalty to others, his naive and dense personality always softens even the coldest of heart, and even his older brother was affected by his denseness. Natsu's the apprentice of the army's second general and head of the royal council, Lord Igneel, a relative and fellow rival of Metalicana.

The last and only daughter of the king was named Wendy. A shy and kind girl she is, the king often says she was the flower of the family because of her delicate personality. Wendy was always supportive towards her two brothers, always encouraging them and trying her best to always try to help the king run the kingdom. Since Wendy hates fighting, Grandine, the kingdom's finest healer, took her in as her apprentice.

The king loved his sons and daughter very much, and the prince and princess also loved him back. There was not a time when the family was neither sad nor lonely. The king was happy, everyone was happy, the whole kingdom was happy...well not always...

* * *

"Get back here you little brat!" a high pitch voice rang through the whole palace, waking up several people including the king

"Not a chance, old hag!" everyone grumbled when they heard that familiar voice 'he's at it again...' the king thought.

Back where the source of the voice was, a certain young prince was running across the hallway trying to get away from a group of angry servants "lighten up! It was just a little prank!" Natsu yelled while looking over his shoulder with a wild grin. He picked up his pace when he noticed they were gaining on him 'crud since when did they became this fast...' he thought as he rounded on the next corner.

* * *

In another part of the palace Wendy was grumpily waking up from the violent wake up call, this has gone on for a few days lately, so she didn't really mind. She slipped her light blue slippers on and went to open the door. She stuck her head out to take a peek; she looked to the right and saw her older brother running in hell's speed. She gave a bright smile and waved at him.

"Ohayou gozaimasu! Nii-sama!" she gave her usual smile and watched him run past her with lightning speed.

"Ohayou, Wendy!" he yelled back with a big grin, Wendy just giggled at him.

"Father says to head to the dining room once were ready for breakfast" she reminded him before returning back inside to change from her nightgown.

Natsu was now running in an incredible speed that it was almost impossible for the servants to keep up, he gave another sharp turn and as soon as he did he quickly spotted his older brother's room. An idea suddenly popped inside his head. He skidded to a stop in front of the door, he knew that his big brother was still sleeping at this time of the day, and that mere thought was enough to do his next move. He violently banged on the door six times before he could knock for the 7th time he quickly hid behind one of the big pillars and watched the scene unfold.

The servants stopped right in front of Gajeel's door. Natsu soon started to count down "3...2...1" and right on cue the door suddenly flew open, hitting the servants squire on the face "WHO THE HELL WOKE ME UP?!" Gajeel roared in anger.

Natsu snickered at the groaning servants and the fuming Gajeel "there he is!" Natsu immediately stopped laughing and quickly started to run. Before he could turn the next corner he quickly reminded Gajeel about breakfast, who only grumbled in response, before continuing his merry get away.

After a few more rounds around the palace grounds the servants finally gave up but that didn't stop them from scolding the little prince from his prank. Natsu slowly walked across the hallway heading for the dining room. When he got there, he cheerfully greeted his father and other two siblings a good morning.

They ate quietly each enjoying the other's presence. After awhile the silence was broken when they heard a knock on the door "My king, may I come in?" a voice asked at the other side, the king gave his permission and let him enter. A man with scarlet hair entered, he was wearing a long sleeved vest, a pair of black pants, with a gold belt holding it up, a pair of gold bracelet and they could perfectly see an X scar across his face.

the young prince immediately smiled at the familiar face "Ohayou, Igneel" Igneel glanced at him and smiled at his student "Ohayou, Natsu" he returned the greeting, not bothering to add any honorific, knowing it will just irritate the young prince "so what brings you here early in the morning Igneel-san?" the king asked, knowing that whenever his advisor came to him it was either two things, either it was about the kingdom's business or Natsu has done it and destroyed something again. Well knowing his actions awhile ago to his son he would say it was about business.

"I just came to remind you of the visitors that will be coming later this afternoon" the king inwardly slapped himself for forgetting again "Right, I forgot" he scratched his head in irritation, he may be the king but he always had the tendency to forget things

"Visitors?" Wendy asked, obviously didn't know anything about any visitors coming, neither did the boys knew, the king cleared his throat "Ah yes, I was going to tell you but it seems I forgot again"

"otou-sama..."

"baka"

"..."

Igneel cleared his throat trying to cut the awkward atmosphere "As the king said, the delegates from the kingdom of Sabertooth will be visiting, along with their sons, for the kingdom alliance" he then turned to the young masters, a serious look on his face "Which means we expect you three to behave and not cause any mischief, especially you Natsu, is that clear?" Natsu pouted and crossed his arms "Fine, whatever..."

"Natsu..." Igneel warned this time it had more bite to it "Alright, Alright already!" Natsu gave in and slumped on his chair, annoyed.

"Good" Igneel then turned to the king and slightly bowed "I shall be taking my leave then, my king" Igneel then left the dining room, leaving the royal family to discuss about the afternoon plans.

* * *

Natsu whined for the 9th time this afternoon, not because he was forced to behave but because he was bored out of his mind, everyone was too busy preparing for the visitors that they didn't have time to accompany him.

He tried to ask Wendy to play with him but she just said that she was busy picking a dress for her to wear and that she would be discussing about the decoration with Grandine.

Then he tried asking Gajeel but he just told him that he did not have time to play around and proceeded his way with his teacher, Metalicana.

"Moooouuuuu~ why is everyone so busy about this stupid visit anyway!" he groaned and lied down on the palace roof, he always liked staying at high places whenever he was annoyed or angry, staying in high places always relaxes him though Igneel would often scold him for doing stunts like that but in the end he just gave up and let Natsu do as he wishes.

"Isn't there anything I can do around here?" he rested his face on his hand and huffed, he watched the scenery in front of him, until his eyes landed on a certain cart that was delivering a bunch of food for tonight's dinner. An evil grin suddenly appeared on his face as a plan started formulating in his mind

* * *

Wendy walked through the hallway carrying a bunch of clothes on her hand, specifically Natsu's clothes, Igneel has asked her to bring Natsu's clothes to his room, since he was too busy consulting with other servants. Wendy happily agreed since her job was already done.

She in front of his door and knocked on it "Natsu-nii, may I come in?" there was no answer. Wendy knocked again, but there was still no answer, She frowned and opened the door only to see that there was nobody inside the room "Huh?" she looked around and took noticed of the opened window 'maybe he's on the roof again?' she thought. Deciding that he was not going to come down any time soon, she left the clothes on his bed, with a note saying to wear it for later.

* * *

Natsu grinned at his success, he was able to avoid the guards from seeing him board the cart, now he was happily walking through the streets, he changed his clothes and covered himself with a long hood black hood, happy that he won't have to suffer the boredom anymore. He glanced around and took noticed of how people were looking at him, probably because of his hair. He went to a stop when he noticed a bunch of people crowded in one area, being the curios little prince he was, he squeezed through the crowd, trying to get a better look.

Natsu blinked a few times when he saw a blonde kid standing in front of two very angry men "Say that again one more time again, kid?" the blonde kid smirked

"I said you are nothing but a weak coward who does nothing but steal does who are weaker than you" both men growled and launched at the kid "You being too cocky, brat!" the kid smirked he dodged both their punch, he quickly moved behind them and sent them flying with a strong kick to their back "Who's being cocky now?" he grinned at the fallen men, unaware of another one coming up behind him.

Natsu saw the men behind the unaware kid "Hey! Watch out!" he yelled he quickly looked around for something to throw then he spotted a huge pan lying nearby, he quickly grabbed it and tossed it, hitting the man dead center on back, the blonde kid was shocked at first but smirked at the pained expression the man gave, he took this opportunity to punch hard enough to knock him out.

The blonde kid turned to Natsu and gave him a huge grin. Natsu couldn't help but smile back at him, the blonde kid walked over to him, still smiling "Uh...thanks for the hand..." he muttered, looking away slightly embarrassed, Natsu blinked a few times before smiling "No problem"

"What's going on here!?" he looked back and noticed the castle guards heading their way "Drat!" without thinking he grabbed the blonde kid's hand and dragged him into an alley way, he watched as the soldiers take the unconscious men away before sighing in relief when he saw them leave "If you don't mind me asking, who are we hiding from?" he turned and saw the blonde kid looking at him curiously.

"Uh nothing..." he muttered

"Then would you be so kind enough as to let go of my hand..." Natsu finally took noticed that he was still holding the others hand, he quickly let go blushing in embarrassment "S-sorry..." he muttered, he felt his face heat up 'what was happening to him?'

There was a long awkward silence until the blonde boy decided to break the silence. He stood up dusting the dirt off his pants before offering a hand for the other.

"Sting..." Natsu looked at him "Huh?" the kid, known as Sting, scowled. He pointed at himself with his thumb "My name, its Sting..." he helped Natsu up, who took his hand awkwardly "...You?" Natsu looked down, trying to hide his blushing face from the other boy "Uh...N-natsu..." he mentally slapped himself for stuttering, he felt his stomach flip when he heard Sting chuckle "Funny name, fits you perfectly..."

Natsu scowled and waved his hand around towards the chuckling blonde "Shut up!" Sting could only chuckle at the others red face "You know, you almost look like a girl when you blush" this only caused Natsu's face to redden, in anger and embarrassment, he lightly punched at him, fuming "Shut up, Shut up, shut up!" for some reason Natsu couldn't it in himself to come up with an insult. Sting laughed as he tried to stop the other from punching him "Come on I was only teasing"

Natsu finally gave up in trying to punch the other and just stood there, arms crossed pouting "Hey come on I was only teasing, quit being such a brat" Sting said but it only caused Natsu to glare at him "Whatever, you jerk!" he stuck his tongue, childishly.

Sting sighed before taking Natsu's hand and started dragging him out the alley "H-hey, W-what are you doing?" Natsu stuttered.

"Come on, I'm new in this kingdom and since you seem to live here, why don't you show me around" Sting turned to look at Natsu, he could have swore he felt his heart go a million miles when he saw him grinning back "Of course!"

* * *

For the next three hours the two boys did nothing but tour around the kingdom, with Natsu explaining some details about this and that, and Sting enjoying himself like there was no tomorrow.

The two decided to stop and rest under a willow tree on top of a nearby hill. Sting was happily munching down a few sweets, which he bought when they made a short stop at the candy store; he glanced at Natsu and saw him looking at the view in a dazed expression.

"Oi, pinky?" Natsu snapped from his trance when he heard Sting called him, he turned to glare at the other only for it to disappear when he saw him offer him bag of candy "Here..." Natsu looked at it for a moment before accepting "Arigatou...' he muttered he opened the bag and made to eat one of them when he froze. The tower bell suddenly rang signalling that it was 3 o clocks, which means the royal family from Sabertooth would be arriving any moment.

"Shoot! I'm late!" both kids suddenly stood up, yelling. They both looked at each other before turning to leave "Uh...wait Natsu..." Sting suddenly grabbed the other's hand causing the other to turn beet red "W-we'll, meet again, right?" Sting covered his red face with his hair, but Natsu could clearly see he was blushing. Smiling Natsu took a step forward, placed both his hand beside Sting's head and placed a kiss on his forehead.

Sting eyes widened, he could feel his face heat up. Natsu gave him a warm smile before he waved goodbye and ran off, with the candy bag Sting gave him.

It took Sting a few moments before he snapped out of his dazed state. He turned red and covered his face with his hand "What the hell is wrong with me..." he muttered, he stood up, his face still red, and ran off at the opposite direction.

* * *

Back with Natsu, he was able to find his way back to his room, without being seen by anyone. He quickly dressed himself, noting that if Wendy saw him not yet dressed she would probably scold him or worse give him those eyes again; he shivered at the mere thought.

He glanced around the room, making he didn't leave anything behind, when he's eye landed on the bag of candy that Sting gave him awhile ago, his face instantly turned scarlet red when he remembered the kiss 'Why the hell did he do that for!?" he inwardly screamed to himself of his stupidity. He went and grabbed some candies but he quickly spat it out on his hand when he bit into something really hard. A black necklace with a red gem was shining on his hand; a piece of paper was wrapped around it.

It was from Sting.

Natsu blushed and opened the piece of paper.

"Thanks for today. ;)

-Sting"

Natsu read a few times before giving a warm smile "That idiot..." he muttered while blushing lightly "What are you smiling about?" a voice suddenly ghosted near his ear, startling him.

He yelped before turning to see Gajeel standing behind him, arms crossed "N-nothing..." he hid the paper behind him, avoiding the others eyes. Gajeel looked at his with sceptic look "Whatever, the old man says to head to the throne room, the Sabertooth brats will be here any minute" Natsu nodded before running out the room tucking the paper and the necklace in his pocket.

* * *

Sting walked through the forest, walking the same path he took to get to the village. He walked faster once he saw the camp. He sneaked inside his tent sighing in relief that no one noticed that he disappeared; he quickly dressed himself not wanting the others to know that he disappeared.

He looked at himself for a moment, adjusting his family brooch he was wearing. His thought suddenly came back to a certain pink hair kid, his hand unconsciously touched his forehead, where Natsu kissed him a smile spread across his lips "Natsu huh..." he muttered under his breath.

"Sting-kun, the captain wants to inform you that we will be leaving soon..." Sting turned to see his long time friend and partner, Lector, enter his tent. He nodded smiling at him "Tell him I'll be ready..." Lector looked at Sting for a while before speaking "Sting are you ok?" he asked in concern.

"Of course" Sting replied grinning, which shocked Lector that the stubborn and cold-hearted Sting actually smiled.

"Something wrong, Lector?" Lector snapped from his trance and shook his head "Nothing..." he muttered and opened the curtain to leave "We shall be leaving now, Sting-kun" Sting nodded and left his tent, he saw his men waiting for him along with best friend, Rogue. He climbed on his horse and turned to the others "Let's go..." he gave a small nudge at the horse side and Sting, along with others, started galloping through the forest with the Sabertooth flag waving proudly.

* * *

"...tsu-nii...Natsu-nii, you there?" Natsu jolted awake, he looked down and saw Wendy looking at him in concern "Oh Wendy, what were you saying again?" he smiled down at Wendy, he hasn't noticed her come up in front of him "Is something wrong?"

Wendy's eyes widened at seeing her brother smile like that, she blushed and tackled him into a hug "KAWAII~!" she squealed. Natsu eyes widened, he tried to get Wendy off from hugging him but to his displeasure she just hugged him tighter.

"What's going on here?" Gajeel walked over to them and saw Wendy hugging the daylights out of Natsu "Ne ne Gajeel-nii, Natsu's really cute when he smiles?" Wendy said in excitement "Natsu-nii comes on show him!"

"But..."Natsu tries to protest when Wendy gave him her puppy dog eyes.

"Fine" Natsu gave in, he relaxed a bit before smiling, this time it was a bit more sweet and warm feeling in it "How's this...?" he said in a warm calming voice.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"KAWAII~!" Wendy squealed once again and tackled Natsu into a tight embrace "I-I guess it does suit you, brat..." Gajeel looked away to hide the small blush on his cheeks "Natsu-nii, at this rate if you smile like that in front of those Sabertooth, they might end up falling for you" Wendy squealed, while Natsu's jaw dropped "W-what are you saying Wendy!? Let go!"

"Nuh uh"

"Ah, young master" the three siblings turned a saw one of their maids running towards them, she bowed before speaking.

"His majesty says to head for the throne room, the guest will be arriving any minute" Gajeel nodded and dismissed her, he then turned to the two and grabbed both by their collars "HEY!" they both yelled in unison, he ignored them and proceeded to drag them into the throne room.

He opened the door to see his father already there he dumped the two on the floor before brushing his hand before "Sorry we're late pops" he then pointed at the two kids getting up from the floor "We got a bit side track" he glanced at Natsu with a smirk.

Natsu growled "What was that for you jerk!" he yelled "That is no way to treat a lady!" Wendy yelled looking as if she was about to cry. Gajeel ignored him and went to stand beside his father "Whatever, just stand beside pops already, Sabertooth will be arriving shortly" Natsu and Wendy pouted before doing as he said but not before sticking their tongues at him.

As they waited Natsu slowly spaced out his mind going back to the time he met the blonde boy, he was too busy thinking that he didn't even notice Sabertooth arrive.

"Oi, pinky" Natsu felt something poke his head he looked up only to see dark eyes staring at him, he froze when he saw a familiar face smiling at him.

"Looks like we did meet again, Natsu" Sting smirked. Natsu turned scarlet red before yelling "EEEEEEEEEHHHHHH!?"


End file.
